1. Purpose This paper explores how race, language and ethnicity influence skilled migrants’ career experiences in the USA.
2. Design/methodology/approach From a phenomenological perspective, qualitative interviews (conducted over a three-month period at the end of 2017) that collected the career narratives of skilled Indian and Irish migrants in the USA are unpacked.
3. Findings While contemporary career theories have prioritised the conceptualisation of individualised careers, this study shows how specific attributes (and their intesection), shared among skilled migrants from the same home country (in this paper, specifically race, language and ethnicity), contribute to a better understanding of how different home country nationals experience their careers in the same host country (in this case, the USA).
4. Research limitations/implications The analysis shared in this paper focus only on two home countries: India and Ireland, and from career narratives from a small cohort from each of these groups. The findings cannot be generalised.
5. Practical & 6. Social Implications Diasporic common attributes, including race, language and ethnicity, have explanatory potential in better understanding how careers unfold in host country settings. Beyond individual-specific or organisation-specific factors that influence career success, diasporic migrant networks have the potential to deepen understanding of how the home country moderates and mediates perceptions and experiences of career success in host countries.
7. Originality/value This paper, focusing on diasporic attributes influencing career outcomes in host countries, adds to existing research on skilled migrants’ careers, which has tended to focus on macro-level phenomena (such as underemployment) or individual career capital factors.
8. Keywords
Skilled migrants, career, intersectionality, race, language, ethnicity
